31 May 2015

Oh May oh my... this month has been rough but I have survived YEY! I am so ready for the summer and some sunshine because its been feeling like autumn again here recently, I actually wore gloves the other day and it's May, MAY! We're already halfway thought the year and that's scary but maybe I should take it as a kick up the ass to get shit done instead of moping about... anyway onwards and upwards!

29 May 2015

Welcome to another Fandom Friday brought to you buy The Nerdy Girly & Super Space Chick. This week we have another awesome topic suggested by @SoMelificent. I probably identify more with fictional characters than real life people and because I'm such a weirdo I probably get a bit over excited when I see a character I love do or say something I can totally relate to...

"That's me that! That! That's me!"

Lisa Simpson

We like to refer to my brother as Bart Simpson because he was a pain in the ass when he was a kid which made me Lisa and I definitely could relate because I always had my head in a book and there was also that time when I was 6 years old I came home and declared myself a vegetarian although it didn't last very long because when you're six years old it's hard to have a serious debate with your parents... if only I was as smart as Lisa back then!

Sansa Stark

I get fiercely defensive every time someone makes stupid derogatory comments about Sansa and I think it boils down to the fact that I see a lot of myself in her. Like Sansa I grew up believing in all those fairytales thinking life was all roses and lemon cakes (also my favourite!) until BAM reality hits and your world is thrown apart. Thankfully my shock into the real world was not as dramatic and horrible as Sansa's and although she may seen weak and stupid to some people, she's smart, she learns and is definitely one to watch out for which is something else I can relate to so don't underestimate me people!

Dean Winchester

I've been watching Supernatural for so long that I know what Dean is going to say before he even says it, we have the same silly sense of humour and also a brother named Sam. I think I identify the most with his love for his family because I definitely share that and my love for family. There have been many occasions when I have put the needs of my family before my own much like Dean and while it may not always be the right decision it's family! Luckily I don't have the fate of the world on my shoulders so I can just kick back with a movie and enjoy my pie at the end of the day.

Abed Nadir

This is kinda a recent revelation for me but as quirky and weird as Abed is I totally get him. Abed sees the world through movies and TV and can relate every situation back to them and I totally do that to although I didn't quite realise it till recently when after another awkward conversation with a workmate she said "You errrr like movies...." and then I had one of the flash camera zoom in moments when I realised OMG I'm the Abed of the group then cue montage of things I've done which relate back to Abed... even that sentence is very Abed, I also say cool, coolcoolcool a lot ok I'm going to stop because what if I'm an alternate reality version of Abed? This is just getting weird...

Daisy Steiner

Firstly Spaced is awesome and if you haven't seen it yet GO WATCH IT! Secondly my roomate in university used to call me Daisy and looking back I could totally see why because I would constantly procrastinate (still do) about work and start up random pointless projects (also still do). I think my addiction to crafting is definitely a symptom of my procrastination but at least I put it to some sort of good use right? Also I do tend to ramble on about things like Daisy and I am guilty of thinking of myself as intelligent when I'm clueless about most things also there's Colin the dog... yeah I'm pretty much IRL Daisy!

Check out the origins of #Fandom5 & feel free to join in on the Fandom Friday fun and share your faves.

So DC cancelled Justice League Dark which makes me hella sad because where am I going to get my Zatanna fix now? Also there's still little world on a movie happening but I'm still hoping and I have total faith in Guillermo Del Toro. Speaking of there was a rumour that the JLD movie would tie in with the Constantine TV series which brings me on to the reason why I decided to dress as the Mistress of Magic this particular day....

CONSTANTINE!!! If you follow me on Twitter you'll know how much I loved this show, I've been a longtime fan of Constantine/Hellblazer and although I did like the movie with Keanu Reeves I've been waiting for a more faithful representation of the character and Matt Ryan definitely brings that, he's awesome! I'm honestly so heartbroken that it's been cancelled it had so much potential and has been one of the favourite shows this year. I'm hoping it will find a home on another network as it has a very loyal fanbase already and there were hundreds of people lined up waiting to meet this guy but if it really is the end for the show at least there's new Hellblazer comics coming soon!

22 May 2015

Welcome to another Fandom Friday brought to you by The Nerdy Girly & Super Space Chick. This week's topic was suggested by @Tickled_TK. I actually struggled this week to think of 5 nerdy things I've ever done mostly because I didn't quite know what counted as nerdy so I had to ask a couple people what they thought the nerdiest thing I'd ever done was and most of them mentioned the first thing on my list which I'll admit I didn't think was especially nerdy until I really thought about it and so I got the inspiration for the rest of the list and realised I'm probably not as much of a casual nerd as I think I am, but still I think that's kinda awesome!

Cosplay

One of my favourite things to do is create outfits inspired by my favourite characters, movie and TV shows and for the past few years I've branched out into making my own costumes and I love it it's so much fun and I think it's currently one of the nerdiest things I do as I spend quite a large proportion of my free time either making or planning out costumes it's completely taken over The Batcave there are all sorts of costumes and props hanging all over the place now that I think I'll have to build a new wardrobe especially for all my fandom costumes and outfits.

Visit Area 51

I mentioned this in a previous Fandom 5 but I have to mention it again because the reaction I got when I said I had booked the family a day trip to go alien hunting in Area 51 was priceless! There's not many people who would take a trip out of the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas to the middle of nowhere just to visit a mailbox and an alien themed café but I would do it every damn weekend if I could.

San Diego Comic Con

San Diego Comic Con is heaven on earth for nerds and I'm so happy I got to go at least once. To anyone who questions my geekiness do you think I'd really travel 14 hours on a plane, suffer though jetlag and spend a ridiculous amount of money on flights, hotels, exclusive collectables etc. if I was faking it? Call me a "Fake Geek Girl" I dare ya and you'll be seeing the pointy end of my friend Longclaw! But despite all the stress and possible heartache SDCC may cause I would do it all again in a heartbeat because it's awesome and one of the best experiences I've ever had.

AGENT CARTER IS BACK & I CRIED!!

I cried, real tears, tears of happiness when I first heard that we were getting another season of Agent Carter. I wasn't expecting to get another season at all after hearing about the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. spin-off and those leaked emails, the sad fact is women are still overlooked in this genre and even sadder I've gotten used to it but my faith has been restored in Marvel and I'm so happy I get to see more of this awesome lady on my TV, in fact as I'm writing this I can feel more tears coming... I just love Peggy so much!

Cooked a Game of Thrones themed Christmas dinner

A Feast of Ice and Fire is my fave cookbook! If you've ever read the Song of Ice and Fire books you'll know George RR Martin can describe all sorts of fictitious foods in such a delicious way it'll make you drool all over the pages and although it has been a while since I cooked up some lemon cakes when I first received the book I cooked EVERYTHING and I even volunteered to cook Christmas dinner for the family just so I could pretend we were having Christmas at Winterfell, granted I was probably the only person at the table who appreciated the nerdiness of the meal it was still delicious and loved by all and there wasn't a single leftover in sight so I take that as a good sign. Fandom related cooking is my jam!

19 May 2015

Whilst in London for The Game of Thrones Exhibition I had a bit of extra time to go exploring. I think I've seen more of London in these past couple years than I have in my whole life but I figure with the rise in train ticket prices I might as well make the most out of my trips there.

My train arrived late afternoon which gave me plenty of time to do a little shopping so I thought where better to explore than Hamleys, the world's oldest and largest toy store. I last visited Hamleys when I was 8 years old and remember falling in love with all the old fashioned Victorian Doll houses they had there. All these years later and I still get super excited about all the toys (check out the price tag on that Gorilla!) and the Lego displays of The Royal Family gave me a bit of a chuckle, only in London!

Fellow blogger Winnieof Diamond Canopy blogged about her trip to Korean restaurant Jinjuu and as we share a love of all Asian foods I thought I would go check it out. I'm happy to report the food was excellent we ordered so many different things to try including Mandu, Bibimbap, Korean Fried Chicken and Kimchi but my absolute fave were these Bulgogi Tacos I'd definitely visit there again if I got the chance and they get bonus points for all the Kpop boy band music and posters in the toilets, that was a great touch.

Shakespeare has been such a big inspiration to me, while studying Shakespeare I found my love for literature and theatre so I really wanted to visit the reconstructed version of Shakespeare's Globe. I loved it, it was a little piece of ye olde England amongst London's modern architecture. I would love to see a performance there the stage was magnificent and beautifully done, of course with it being open air it's not really audience friendly in the winter so I'll be sure to check back in the summer when you can get £5 tickets to performances there.

The more I see of London the less I dislike it and the better I am at navigating the tube. My next visit will be for London Film & Comic Con funds permitting so hopefully I'll manage to fit in a few more sights, museums and Korean tacos then.

Do you have any reccomendations for things to do, see and eat in London? Let me know in the comments

Welcome to another Fandom Friday brought to you buy The Nerdy Girly & Super Space Chick. We took a week off and then I forgot all about last weeks but I am back to your regular Friday scheduling with this weeks topic suggested by @SoMelificent. I am a notorious binge watcher and have stayed up way past my bedtime of many an occasion watching TV. Every year in during Supernatural's "Hellatus" I will watch ever single season yeah so that's now 10 seasons I will binge my way through! But I thought for this Fandom 5 I would try to stay away from the obvious shows *cough* Game of Thrones *cough* and mention a few of my other fave shows I have binged my way through on more than a single occasion....

Daredevil

Everyone is talking about it and with good reason it's EXCELLENT! I have to admit this new dark violent take from Marvel threw me a bit but it's done so well and although I had to take a couple "happy breaks" when I first watched it I couldn't stop for long and now I'm watching it again, I goddamn love these avocados!

Princess Jellyfish

Anime is something I like to binge my way through although I'll admit I haven't watched any new stuff in a while not even the new Sailor Moon (I know!). There's only 11 episodes of this wonderful anime and you can easily watch them all in one night which I may or may not have done a few times but it's worth losing sleep over because it's such a beautiful and feel good show all about nerdy girls and awesome friendships.

Batman: The Animated Series

I like to binge the toons and this is my favourite ever take on the Batman world I remember watching this as a kid before school would start and I still put on a few episodes when I'm getting ready in the morning in fact they're so easy to go through sometimes forget myself and end up leaving the house later than I probably should have. This is also the show that gave birth to one of my favourite ever characters Harley Quinn so i you haven't seen it you better get on that and if you get the Blade Runner references that crop up a few times in the show I will love you even more.

NANA

So much love for Ai Yazawa I watch ParaKiss & NANA at least a couple times a year and it totally helps me when I'm going through melancholy times. NANA is my favourite anime the music, the story, the animation, the fashion, the characters I love every single part of this show and I relate to it so damn much it's ridiculous I'm a emotional mess when I watch but it's so beautiful I can't not watch. I've only read a few of the manga but as Ai Yazawa has yet to complete it I kinda don't want to because I'll just get impatient and want more and more and I already deal with enough of that from George RR Martin!

Angel

As much as I loved Buffy I think I loved Angel even more and this was my original binge watch TV series at university, I pretty much wore my VHS tapes re-watching it and I would spend all day with it on my TV while I was writing essays you wouldn't see me for days because I'd be in my room drinking coffee, eating ramen and watching Angel! Seriously if you're a Buffy or Joss Whedon fan and you haven't seen Angel yet what the heck are you doing go watch it now! And in case you're wondering yes I upgraded my VHS to DVDs and they're looking just as worn out now...

06 May 2015

Almond butter is awesome, being someone who can't stand peanut butter I didn't quite exect to love almond butter as much as I do and you can make the best cookies with it. I'm trying to clear out my store cupboards for the summer so I can get some epic cleaning done and so I thought I'd test out this recipe and use up the last of my coconut flour which in all honestly is the most frustrating flour to cook with so I'm glad to get rid of, but these cookies came out great and were so delicious that even my dog decided to steal one!

Ingredients

1/3 cup almond butter

1 egg (for vegans use a flax/chia egg)

1tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup almond milk

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup dessicated coconut

1 cup coconut flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

(makes 18)

♥ Preheat an oven to 180°c

♥ In a small bowl mix together the almond butter, egg, vanilla, almond milk and maple syrup until it resembles a smooth batter.

♥ Add in all the remaining ingredients and mix until thoroughly combined.

♥ Using a teaspoon spoon the dough onto a greaseproof paper lined baking tray, make sure to flatten the dough a little so they cook evenly and that they have a bit of room between them to expand and rise.

♥ Place the cookies in the oven and cook for 8 - 10 minutes until the cookies are golden in colour.

♥ Remove the tray from the over and allow to cool for 5 - 10 mins. then remove the cookies and let them cool completely on a wire rack.

02 May 2015

A very merry unbirthday to you all, today I thought I would celebrate the blooming of the roses by hosting another awesome giveaway for all my lovely readers. I've noticed a slow but steady increase over all my social media platforms this past year and wanted to do something special for you guys to show my thanks.

This giveaway is open internationally and entries will be accepted from now until midnight (GMT) on May 31st, just follow the instructions in the widget above and be sure to leave a valid email address that I can contact you at should you win.